When it comes to hiking Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley, Maine, the shortest path between two points—the parking lot and the summit—is a ski resort. The two-mile hike from Saddleback Maine trades the soothing cool of a forested trail for the steep and sunbaked ski trails.

Trying to find an “easy” way to hike Mt. Katahdin is like panning for gold in a swimming pool. The Abol Trail, by virtue of providing the most direct route to Katahdin’s Baxter Peak from a roadside trailhead, is often presumed the “best bet” by novice hikers. That’s a losing bet.

To hike the Berry Picker’s Trail, opened in 2016, up Saddleback mountain is to step back in time and enjoy one of Maine’s magnificent 4k mountains before the toll of thousands of footsteps has eroded the tender soil into a deep-grooved trail filled with rocks and roots.